Love Lies Bleeding
by Elyk Thgirdaorb
Summary: Set during 1.12, what would happen if Lucas' necklace had never caught on Peyton's hair. How far would they go and what chaos later awaits them? Please read and review.
1. Spontaneous Regrets

**I own nothing expect that which I invent. All characters and dialogue used from the show belongs to Tollin/Robbins Productions and Warner Bros Television; title belongs to Queen. **

**Set in the motel scene of 1.12, what would have happened if Lucas' necklace hadn't caught on Peyton's hair and hadn't ruined the moment? How far would they go and what chaos would await them... **

**some Brucas, mostly Leyton and Naley**

**rated T-16+ for some sexual content this chapter**

_**flashbacks**_

**Enjoy...**

The road stretched out in front of them as the two blondes drove on. Neither of them spoke nor looked at each other, just the long stretch of road that lay before them. A cough came from the passenger sit causing the blonde who was driving to direct his gaze over to the girl with the curly locks. She quickly looked out the window and the blonde driving turned his attention back to the smooth asphalt that glided beneath them. The silence was suffocating. The blonde in the driver's seat rolled down his window to let some air in while the curly top turned on the heat. Finally the driver broke the silence, "I'm hungry; are you hungry?" Curly top shook her head but then her stomach growled catching her in her own lie. The driving blonde smiled as he watched road signs for possible places to eat. They had not brought a lot of money on them, just enough for gas, the motel room, and food if needed. The driver pulled off onto an exit and scanned the road for a respectable place to eat. He settled for a little Mom and Pop restaurant named Henry's and found a parking spot. He killed the engine and looked over at the girl in curls.

"Can we talk about this?" His blue eyes pierced into her as she looked over at him. She slowly nodded and looked down.

"It was a mistake, it never should have happened, and it is best forgotten." A tear slid down her cheek as she said these words. The desperation in her eyes told the driver that she didn't want to pursue the conversation anymore, but he needed answers.

"It did mean something Peyton, we had sex." With those words, Peyton reached over and slapped Lucas. His head whipped back from the impact and he grabbed his stinging cheek. Peyton opened the passenger side door and walked out into the parking lot. Lucas opened his door to follow her. He watched her in silence, afraid another word would bring on another slap and more pain to his already aching face. She turned to face him and walked over. She came over and out of nowhere her lips connected with his and for a brief moment they were back in the motel room.

'_It has to be in here," Peyton said frantically running into the room and running her hands over the chair cushion, lifting it, and running along the night stand. She lifted the blanket and sitting there under it was her bracelet. Tears slid down her face as she picked it up and placed it back onto her wrist. Lucas watched by the door as she searched the room and when she found it, he walked over to her. _

"_Got it?" He said as she continued to cry. "Hey, hey, its okay," Lucas said with a smile, "everything is okay now." She looked down and nodded before looking up at him and walked into his embrace. Their embrace was short but they still clung to each other, staring deeply into each others eyes. Then Peyton leaned up and their lips collided, a single spark to set off the fireworks._

_They kissed for a minute while Lucas moved his hands to cup under her chin and neck and they broke for air, only for their lips to meet again. They continued to kiss before Lucas broke the kiss. Peyton stared at him while he removed her coat and tossed it to the ground. They continued to passionately kiss each other while Lucas removed his coat and walked Peyton over to the bed, forcing her into a sitting position before leaning down to kiss her again. Lucas then grabbed the bottom of the green and white over-shirt she was wearing and pulled it over her head. The two blondes fell back onto the bed in a passionate kiss. Lucas broke the kiss and worked his way down her chest and stomach, lifting her white tank top to reveal her stomach and delicately kissed it and around her belly button. He rose to remove his own shirt, leaning back down to bring their lips together. The two blonde knew this was wrong, that Lucas was dating Brooke, but they were too caught in the moment to care._

_The two continued to kiss before Lucas moved his way to her neck. Peyton softly moaned and he knew he had found the right spot. He continued to kiss and bite her neck before bringing his head back up to kiss her again. Their breathing had gotten heavier and their passion was too much to ignore. Lucas, continuing to kiss Peyton, ran his hands under her tank top and fondled her breasts and rubbed her back before she leaned up for him to remove it. Peyton laid back in her bra and Lucas looked down at her. He had never seen anything more beautiful in his life and any thoughts of Brooke left his mind completely. He had wanted to be with Peyton for so long and now was their chance, girlfriend or not._

_He leaned back down to catch her lips and she slowly broke his kiss softly biting on his bottom lip. Her hands found her way to his groin, where she cupped it and gave it gentle squeeze, feeling the expansion of denim in her hand. She quickly undid the belt, tossing it to the floor, and undid the button and unzipped his pants. Lucas stood up and kicked off the jean, where he was now clan in just his boxers. Peyton stood up and kissed him before flipping him around and placing Lucas on his back on the bed. She smiled as she crawled up to him and devoured his neck, kissing and licking and biting it. Lucas moaned and she brought herself back up to him and kissed him hard before trailing down his chest, stopping at each nipple. She couldn't wait any longer. She threw off her pants and passionately kissed him again, while Lucas unhooked her bra and slid it off her arms unto the floor. They kissed again, each others tongues battling in their mouths. Lucas slid is hand down her panties and slipped them off and in an instant they were both naked._

_Lucas looked into Peyton's eyes, she nodded in response before he slowly entered her. Peyton moaned as he inched his way inside of her. It had been a long time since she had had sex, but all the motions came flooding back to her memory. Lucas slowly thrust into her. Peyton moaned and Lucas repeated the motion, faster until he built a good rhythm. They kissed to suppress each others moans of pleasure and everything else in the world slowed down as the two blondes moved together in unison. _

_Afterwards Lucas and Peyton were laying in each others arms when Lucas' cell phone went off. The caller ID shown Brooke and reality came rushing back toward the blondes, who had just now realized what they had down. Lucas answered the phone and gave some bullshit excuse about traffic being backed up, some accident on the road and they would be home in about an hour. They exchanged I love yous and Lucas hung up while Peyton frantically got dressed. The reality of what had just happened hit her like a ton of bricks; she had just slept with her best friend's boyfriend, she was the other women, and that thought did not sit well with her. Lucas finished getting dressed and walked over to Peyton, who looked sick. _

"_Are you okay?" he said as he wrapped his arms around her. She pushed him away and muttered that she wanted to leave and out the door they went._

Peyton broke the kiss and looked at Lucas who leaned in for another one. She backed away from him and shook her head. "We cannot ever do that again."

"Do what, kiss?" Lucas walked toward her as she backed farther away from him.

"Do you realize what we just did? I just slept with my best friend's boyfriend, and then kissed him again. God Luke, what are we doing? We are better than this." Lucas just looked at her, crying frantically in front of him and all he could think about was kissing her, holding her, making the pain she felt go away.

"I'll break it off with Brooke."

"How, just come back home and tell we had sex and that it is over?"

"I'll find a way Peyton, I need to be with you, I lo-"

"Don't even say it. Because if you do then I will say it and then we will be in an even bigger mess than we are now." Lucas looked down at the ground defeated. "Let's just go eat and head home." She said solemnly and walked towards the entrance.

The silence continued in the restaurant. Both slowly ate their food with no words spoken between bites even though so many thoughts ran through both blonde's heads. Their waitress, an older lady with glasses and deep red hair, came over and asked if everything was okay. Both blondes nodded silently and continued to eat; only Peyton had stopped eating and was now staring at Lucas. Lucas, realizing that she was staring at him, looked up from his meatloaf and looked deep into her eyes. They had always had this thing, a silent communication, every since they met and even without conveying words, they could still know exactly what the other was thinking.

"Don't say that," Lucas stared at her.

"I didn't say anything." Peyton took a sip of her water and played in her mash potatoes.

"We have to talk about this, whatever this is." Lucas sat his fork down on the table making a louder thud than expected.

"What is there to talk about? It happened, it was a mistake, it will never happen again. It doesn't matter." Peyton sat back in her chair.

"Would you stop saying that? Of course it matters. Normal people just don't end up having sex in motel rooms after trying to find out if the girl's father is dead. It does matter. Why else would it have happened? We are not just two horny teenagers looking for a fuck. That was more than that, I know it and you know it. So tell me what the hell you were thinking back there." Peyton stared at him as a tear slid down her face. She knew it was there and for some reason didn't care about it; she had a long time ago accepted tears as her defense mechanism against the things that hurt her. Lucas leaned over and wiped it away as she pushed his hand away.

"Don't, don't touch me. Because I don't trust myself around you right now. You know what, I wasn't thinking back there. I have wanted to be with you for so long now, and back there," she paused as more tears spilled from her lids. Lucas just sat back and stared at the girl who was unconventionally stating her love for him. Peyton took a deep breathe. "Back there, I knew you were with Brooke and it scared me. It scared me that I had lost you. That night when I came to your room and told you how I felt only to find you were with Brooke, killed me. I thought that us was over, so when we kissed, I took it as a last chance for us to be together because I knew that you and Brooke were together and I was just going to be the friend. So that is what I was thinking, that you and I were over and that this was all I could get before it all ended I might as well take it." Peyton wiped her eyes with her napkin and Lucas grabbed her hand.

"Is that what you think? That just because we finally had sex that we could never be together as a couple and that I would run back to Brooke and act like nothing ever happened? Peyton, I love you. You know I do, and I know that you love me even if you refuse to admit it. God Peyton, do you know how long I wanted to be with you? Not just have sex, but just to kiss you, hold you, wake up with you beside me. So that I could tell the world that you were mine and no one else could have you. Do you honestly think that that was just an innocent fling, because it wasn't. I have wanted you for so long now and we finally had our chance and I was going to give it up, not for Brooke, not for anybody." Peyton smiled. No one had ever said that to her. It was like a dream, everything that had just happened was so surreal. But then her mind traveled back to Brooke, her best friend for the last ten years. She was there when no one else was, she was there for her mother dying, everything, and now to think that she had committed the ultimate betrayal by sleeping with her boyfriend. It broke her heart and made her sick to think about it.

"Lucas, you know how I feel about you, but this," she held up her and Lucas' hands before removing hers from his, "can never happen. You are dating Brooke, my best friend in the whole world, and I cannot just stand by and let myself become the other woman while you are with her. It isn't fair to her, and it isn't fair to me." Lucas was taken back by her sudden burst of anger and sat back into his chair. He immediately began to eat again leaving Peyton to stare at him.

"Luke, Lucas?" Peyton called his name only to be ignored. "Luke, would you please look at me." Lucas looked up with a world of hurt on his face. Peyton was about to cry just from the look of sadness that had enveloped his face.

"What?" Lucas said as he looked at her, his face getting tense. "What do you want me to say? I just expelled my heart to you and you say that it can never happen, why, because of Brooke? I like Brooke and all, she is a nice girl, but she isn't you Peyton. She doesn't make me feel the way that you do when you walk up to me, or flash me a smile. I get chills from those moments. God Peyton, even when you touch me I get a sudden rush. But if you think I should stay with Brooke, even though you and I both know that this could work, then fine, I'll say with her." Peyton sat looking at the window trying to control her emotions. One part of her wanted to grab Lucas and kiss him, the other wanted to scream at him and the last part of her just wanted to go home and cry. "Let's just go." She heard him say as he ushered over the waitress and paid for the meal and walked outside to the car, leaving Peyton sitting at the table. The waitress walked over.

"Are you okay sugar?" Peyton looked over at her and nodded.

"Fine, absolutely fine," she said as she got up from the table and walked out to the car, knowing that it was going to be a long ride back home.

**Well what didja think? Please leave me some reviews whether they are good, bad or indifferent.**


	2. The Lovers' Dance

**A/N: Thank you guys for all the great reviews. I had this idea for a while but never actually wrote it out until now. I am glad all of you like it. I would once again like to say that I own nothing; any dialogue used is owned by Warner Bros Television and Tollin/Robbins Productions. Remember this is my own invention so timing might not be perfect. Here is the second chapter, I hope you all enjoy it and don't forget to leave me a review afterward whether it's good, bad or indifferent. Enjoy!**

Brooke sat on the couch in Peyton's house. She was kind of uncomfortable sitting there alone. She had been in Peyton's house many times before, hell she was at Peyton's more than her own house, but she never actually was in her house alone. It was kind of eerie. It was an older house, and with it being old, it produced weird noises. Brooke sat on the couch with a magazine and out of nowhere she swore she heard the sounds of walking upstairs. Quietly running to the kitchen, she grabbed a knife and tiptoed headed up the stair.

"Hello," she whispered, "whoever is up here, I called the police and they are on their way." She said the last part a little louder hoping that whatever was lurching upstairs would hear. Of course it was a bold faced lie but she hoped the intruder took it seriously and left before they had a confrontation. Brooke inched closer to Peyton's room before slowly opening the door and turned the corner so her head was in the doorway. Empty. She walked in and checked the closet and Peyton's bathroom. Both were empty. Brooke let out a sigh of relief as she checked the other rooms of the upstairs of the house to find nothing.

"Common Brooke, get it together, it is an old house," she said to herself as she walked down the stairs. Just as she was going to sit down on the couch, the phone rang, causing Brooke to scream and jump up. "Geez, damn phone," Brooke cried out as she calmed her nerves and as she walked over and answered the phone. "Sawyer residence," she said calmly into the receiver.

"Is Miss Peyton Sawyer there?" A strong male voice boomed on the other end of the phone.

"No, she is out for the moment, can I take a message?" Brooke grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen and readied herself for the upcoming message.

"This is Sergeant Jeremy Lees of the United States Coast Guard. We have received information that Larry Sawyer is indeed safe and on his way back to land, so if you could notify Miss Sawyer of this information as soon as possible." A smile hit Brooke face. _He is okay, thank God._ Brooke thanked the man and hung up the phone. She wanted to call Peyton with the good new but decided to wait because it was getting late and she was sure that she and Lucas were probably getting ready for bed. For some reason this bothered Brooke, the thought of her boyfriend and her best friend sleeping together. Not actually having sex but the actual act of sleeping beside each other. She trusted them; she knew that neither would even do anything to hurt her, even with their history. Still something about the thought of them together bugged Brooke. She shook of the feeling and crawled up on the couch and began flipping through channels. She finally settled for some cheesy romance movie on Hallmark. Within fifteen minutes of the movie she was asleep.

Brooke woke up around seven in the morning. She got off the couch and ran to the bathroom to wash her face and make herself look half decent for Lucas when he returned, even though she slept in her make-up and was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. After she fixed her make up and combed her hair, Brooke grabbed the house phone and started to dial Lucas' cell phone number when all the sudden the phone rang.

"Peyton's place," Brooke said with a bit of bewilderment.

"Hey it's me." Lucas' warm voice said on the other end of the phone.

"Hey, I was just dialing you, that's freaky."

"Well it's good news."

"Yeah, I know, I just got off the phone with the Coast Guard. They made contact with his boat. He's fine." Brooke heard Lucas on the other end telling Peyton that they found her father. With a second, Lucas was back on the phone.

"All right, we're headed home."

"Okay, I'm waiting. I love you."

"Love you, too. Bye," Lucas said and the phone disconnected. A smile spread to Brooke face as she hung up the phone. Hearing Lucas' voice made her feel all warm inside. She hoped that they wouldn't take too long because she really wanted to see Lucas, kiss him, hold him, take in his scent. She had missed him the short time that they were apart.

A couple hours had passed and she hadn't heard from Lucas or Peyton nor were they back yet. She decided that she would give Lucas a call to see where they were and how much longer they would be. She picked up her cell phone lying on the nightstand on Peyton's nightstand and dialed his number. It connected instantly and began to ring. Once, twice, three four, five times the phone kept ringing. Finally on the tenth ring, Lucas picked up. He sounded tired when he said hello.

"Hey baby, it's just me. I was wondering where you two were." She heard some muffled sounds almost like someone getting dressed followed by Lucas' voice.

"Hey baby, yeah, uh, we are stuck in traffic, I guess there was some kind of accident from the storm and we are pretty backed up and it may take us longer than we thought." He sounded nervous. Brooke began to worry hat there was something wrong.

"Oh, I'm sorry is everything okay, did anyone get hurt?" There was a pause. "You okay Luke?" There was another long pause before Lucas answered.

"Yeah, I am just tired and my legs keep falling asleep on me. I'm fine babe. Look, my battery is low so I gotta go. I'll see you in an hour or two. Love you." The phone disconnected before she could say I love you back and Brooke hung up the phone. She put the phone back on the nightstand but couldn't shake the feeling that there was something that Lucas wasn't telling her. And if they were in traffic wouldn't she be able to hear the car engine? Her mind raced a mile a minute. Maybe something happened with Peyton. Maybe something happened between the two of them that they were trying to cover up. Brooke shook her head. _No, _Brooke thought, _Lucas loves me and he would never do anything to hurt me. And Peyton is my best friend. It has always been hoes over bros; she would never do anything with Lucas._ Brooke sat down on the bed and laid back. She suddenly felt very tired and there were a million things rushing around in her head. She tried to push out all the bad thoughts from her head. _No, Lucas loves me. End of story. There is nothing wrong. They are just stuck in traffic and they will be here as soon as traffic lets up and then everything will be right again. Peyton's dad is okay and Lucas will be back. Everything is okay._ With those thoughts Brooke fell into a sound sleep.

* * *

Peyton sat still in the passenger seat as Lucas drove the two of them back to Tree Hill. So much had happened in the last forty-eight hours and her head was spinning. First they had to identify a body to make sure it wasn't her father, Larry Sawyer, then the whole bracelet debacle; which lead to the two of them having sex for the every first time. But the biggest thing that was plaguing her mind was the fact that she had just given Lucas away to Brooke, again. Come to think of it, Peyton didn't even know why she was just giving up on a relationship with Lucas when she knew full well that it could work; would work. They had such a connection since the first time they talked. They could open up to each other and know what the other was thinking even before the words were spoken and Lucas was always there for her, no matter what the circumstances. Hell even her dad loved him and dubbed him Rake Boy for the time her tried to save her from him. So why was she just giving up the one chance in her life to be happy? Brooke wasn't oblivious to the fact that Peyton had feeling for Lucas otherwise she would have never dared her to kiss Lucas at the Dan's Basketball Appreciation party. She knew and yet she still went after Lucas, calling him fair game after a weekend. Some friend she had turned out to be. No, Brooke was not just going to steal away Peyton's chance at happiness after a weekend leeway.

"Don't go back to Brooke," Peyton heard herself say even before she realized the words were coming out of her mouth. Lucas looked over at her, almost crashing the car, before pulling over.

"What are you saying Peyton?" Lucas pulled off onto a patch of dirty beside the highway and cut the engine, leaving an eerie stillness between the blondes.

"I am saying that I want to be with you Lucas. What you said back at the restaurant made me realize that I was giving up my on true chance at happiness for Brooke. And granted Brooke has been there for me in the past but I have never had the real chance to be happy and if I am getting that chance to be with you, then I am going to take it."

Lucas looked over at her with a look of happiness and perplexity on his face. "Wait, I am confused. Back at the restaurant you said that we could never work even though we both have feelings for each other, and now you are saying that you do want to be together despite the fact that I am dating your best friend?" Lucas' answer was met by a kiss; a kiss so passionate and intense that Lucas had never felt one like that before. The two blondes broke apart breathing heavily before Lucas grabbed Peyton by the back of the head and pulled her in for another kiss. The kiss broke but there lips still linger centimeters apart from another. A smile came to Peyton's face, that Peyton Sawyer smile that sent chills down Lucas' back and tied knots into his stomach.

"I have wanted to this for so long," Lucas said with a smile.

"And now we can finally have it." Peyton smiled as she kissed them again. "So what are we going to do?" Peyton stared deep into Lucas' blue crystals.

"Well we could hop in the back seat and have a repeat performance of back at the hotel." Lucas smiled as he kissed her again, his hand finding its way up the back of her shirt.

"With Brooke," Peyton said removing his hand from her shirt and looking down to the floor mat, "This is going to kill her."

"I know, but you can't help who you love. We will tell her together, explain it to her, all of it."

"Even the motel room sex?" Lucas looked over at Peyton.

"We might want to forget that. But speaking of Brooke, we had better head back before she calls the police to look for us." Lucas smiled and leaned over kissing Peyton gently on the lips, and started the car and drove off with his new love, to his old one.


	3. Collide

**A/N: Well looky here. See, I start a new fan fiction and the others all slowly start to get updates as well. Actually, I have had the idea for this chapter for quite a while now, but I have been so busy with work that I never really had the time to jot it all down. But I do apologize for taking forever to update. I really feel horrible. Now onto chapter three, basically, it is just filler but will help with the rest of the story. And I don't know if I mentioned this, but this story is, or is now, being slightly AU. I am using the original storylines, but just putting my own twist on them. And like always, please leave me a review. I do realize that most people don't like to leave comments and reviews, which is cool because I sometimes do that myself, but I really wanna know what you guys think. Your opinions actually help me with my writing of the next chapter so leave me one, good, bad, or indifferent. Now onto the next installment in Love Lies Bleeding...**

Brooke awoke about a half hour later in Peyton's bed, coming to the realization that she was still alone. Boredom was becoming of her, so Brooke decided to preoccupy her time with doing something for both Peyton and Lucas. She decided to make dinner, which to Brooke was calling in take out and setting up herself and set up some balloons and a banner to celebrate Peyton's father being home and Lucas for being there for Peyton when she needed him the most. That was what she loved most about him; that no matter what was going on in his life he still took the time to be there and support his friends and loved ones in their time of need.

After getting all of celebratory items in order and set up in the kitchen, Brooke plopped back down on the couch, still wondering where Lucas and Peyton were and wanting to see the boy she loved again, to hold him in her arms and know that he was okay. But until then all Brooke could do was wait.

* * *

In reality, the car ride home only took about forty-five minutes from the hotel back to Peyton's house but for some reason it took about an hour and half. That reason being Lucas stopping to make out with Peyton ever five minutes on the road.

Finally they made it back into Tree Hill, and pulled into Peyton's driveway. They exited the car, holding back the fact that they wanted to be in each others arms. Lucas mouthed 'I love you' to Peyton and got a smile in return. As soon as the car doors shut, Peyton's front door flew open as Brooke rushed out and jumped into Lucas' arms, planting a firm kiss on his lips. Peyton subtly looked down, not wanting to see the man that she loved, kissing another woman. Lucas kissed Brooke back, not wanting to let on anything too soon. He wanted both he and Peyton to tell Brooke that they wanted to be together. He knew that Brooke wouldn't take it well but thought that if they explained everything to her together, it might ease the pain a little.

"God have I missed you Broody. Was traffic that bad that it took you almost four hours to get home?"

Lucas quickly looked over to Peyton whom looked at Brooke and responded for Lucas, further backing up his cover up story. "The traffic was horrible Brooke. I dunno exactly what caused the accident; they had it all cleared before we drove past, but we sat for hours on end. But Luke made it fun. We blared the radio and sang car karaoke at the top of our lungs. We even got a few stares from the other cars beside us." She smiled over at Luke, who gave her a sheepish grin, both know that none of which had really happened, but what Brooke didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"That's my man." Brooke beamed as she wrapped her arms around Lucas and kissed him briefly again.

"Yeah, if there is one person I know I can count on to entertain me with his horrible rendition of "I Want You To Want Me", its Lucas." Peyton teased.

"Hey, it wasn't that bad." Lucas retorted, glad that Brooke had actually bought their story,

"Yeah, well all I know is that I am glad that my father is safe and that he is coming back home." Peyton said walking over closer to the couple. Brooke unattached herself from Lucas' side and walked over, meeting Peyton halfway before embracing her.

"I know you are P. Sawyer. We all are. Believe me I was scared to death that your dad wasn't going to make it. But now that he is safe and coming home, we don't need to worry anymore." Brooke draped her arm across her best friend shoulders. "Speaking of Papa Sawyer being okay, I have a surprise for you two inside the house." Brooke grinned.

Both Peyton and Lucas' face filled with confusion as Brooke walked them into Peyton's house and into the kitchen, which was filled with balloons, a large banner with the words, "We Love You P. Sawyer" and a lavish dinner spread out on the dining room.

A broad smile lit up Peyton's face as she walked farther into her house to look around at all that her best friend had done for her return, "Brooke, you did all this? It's, it's,"

"Amazing," Lucas filled in the last word, looking around.

"How did you come up with all of this Brooke?" Peyton said turning to her.

Brooke simply smiled, her dimples on full display, "Um, hello, I was alone in your house for just about four hours straight. I had to do something to occupy myself from the boredom that overcame me. By the way P. Sawyer, you house is really creepy when you are all by yourself. I dunno how the hell you do it. I mean I swore that there was a maniac serial killer upstairs and no one was up there. If I lived here, I swear I would go crazy."

Peyton just laughed at Brooke's banter, "Well between you and Lucas, I am rarely actually _alone_ in this house." Peyton walked around the table that was filled with every food imaginable. "And I'm guessing that in this time you learned to cook? Really Brooke, you made all this, the girl who messed up cereal?"

"Hey!" Brooke yelled, trying not to laugh, "That was one time when I was like five. I didn't know you were supposed to put the cereal in before milk!" Lucas and Peyton held back their snickers, "Besides, I really didn't make the dinner for you Peyton. The banner and balloons yes, but dinner was for Lucas for being such an awesome friend and boyfriend. He didn't have to go with you to see if you're father was okay but he did anyways. He is a great guy and I am so lucky to have him, and as for the food, courtesy of Karen's Café." Brooke looked over longingly at Lucas would just grinned sheepishly, a little embarrassed but also ashamed realizing that he was going to break the heart of a girl who had just planned a whole dinner for him.

"Thank you baby and I'll have to thank my mother later for making the food for you." He walked over, kissing Brooke's forehead.

Brooke smiled, knowing that she had done good, "So, I believe this food is getting cold, and I am starving. You guys must be too sitting in that traffic for that long. So, let's eat." Brooke walked with Lucas to the table, followed suit by Peyton. Lucas looked over at Peyton and gave her a look, which was quickly followed by the same look back. It was killing them that they could be together right now to celebrate. Looking over, all Lucas wanted to do was walk over and kiss Peyton, hold her, be with her. But with Brooke being in the same room with them that would be next impossible.

They all went over to the table, and sat down. All the food was passed around and as the three talked, laughed and ate. Suddenly Brooke jumped up, "Damnit, I forgot about the dessert, courtesy of Betty Crocker of course. I'd better go check on it." And with that Brooke was up and in the kitchen to check on the cake that she was baking, leaving the two lovers by themselves at the table.

Lucas looked down at his plate. This was eating him up inside. Here Brooke went all out and got dinner for him and in the meantime, he was busy developing his new found relationship with Peyton. He felt like a complete ass. He slowly picked at his food, not really that hungry considering that he and Peyton had just eaten not even an hour before.

"The cake is safe, now all I need to do is ice and decorate it and dessert is ready." Brooke called out from the kitchen as Lucas looked up at Peyton, a saddened expression filling his face,

"I can't do this." His voice was hushed so that Brooke wouldn't hear of their conversation and become suspicious.

"Can't do what Luke?" Peyton asked looking him dead in the eye.

"I can't tell her about us, not right now." He looked toward the kitchen where his girlfriend was still busy getting dessert ready, "I mean, she did all of this for us. She spent all this time worrying about us and planned all of this for _us, _and now what? We are going to tell her that I'm sorry that I need to break up with her because I want to be with her, her best friend? This isn't the right time. I- I just can't right now."

Peyton sat back and looked back at Lucas. How quickly the tides had turned. Before Lucas was so adamant about wanting to be with Peyton and now he was saying that they needed to wait to tell Brooke that they were in love and wanted to be together. Peyton sighed, "Luke, we need to tell her. It isn't right and fair that we are sneaking around behind her back. I'm not going to do that. Luke, I want to be with you. I need be with you," her tones hushed, "I love you."

Lucas smiled a bit after hearing Peyton say that she loved him. And everything that Peyton was saying was true for him too. He wanted and needed to be with Peyton. "Peyton, I know. I love you too. I want everything with you. But now, it isn't the right time. She did all of this for us. It is too soon for us to tell her. That would crush her. I mean to hear that her boyfriend is breaking up with her to be with her best friend, after she did all of this for us? And the way she talked about me. It's just too soon. Give it a day or two, and then we will tell her, I promise."

Peyton smiled back. She was happy to know that Lucas wasn't going to give up on them being together just when she realized how much she wanted and needed Lucas to be with her. He was the only steady thing in her life and she would be damned if she lost it because she was afraid of going after her heart's desire, "Okay, but we do need to tell her, and soon. Brooke kinda needs to know Luke."

Just then the brunette walked in from the kitchen carrying the cake, "What do I need to know?" She said slowly looking back from her boyfriend and her best friend as each of them just stared at each other in silence.


End file.
